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Sarasota
Monday, Jul. 19, 2010
6 years ago

STORE AROUND THE CORNER: Posh on Palm

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by:
Loren Mayo
Black Tie Editor

Susie Holt loves anything a little bit tattered. Strewn out all over the floor in a back room at Posh on Palm sits Holt’s collection of vintage linens and lace — a collection she started 20 years ago. In the next few weeks, she’ll choose her favorites and sew them, white on white, into shabby chic slipcovers and pillows.

“It just evolves, these ‘have beens’ of old fabrics,” Holt said. “That’s what makes it fun – when you can take that old stuff and put it together.”

Holt and her husband, Mark, moved the store, then called “The Cat’s Meow,” from Venice to Palm Avenue just three months ago. Already, Sarasota has been receptive.

“We looked around for a long time and found this building,” Susie Holt said of the former DeMarco Hotel. “The tin ceiling, pillars and old hotel-feel fit us like a glove. We love this area and for us it’s meant to be — we’re fortunate that we’re close to homes and lots of little bungalows and beach houses. People love this style.”

The couple is gearing up for their next furniture hunt, when they’ll travel out of state to flea markets to search for pieces other stores don’t carry. Sometimes it’s Texas and sometimes it’s California. They’ll drive a truck full of furniture back and then work their magic together, transforming their finds into art.

But it doesn’t end there — the boutique also stocks one of a kind pieces imported from France and Belgium and carries giftware, picture frames, candles, and accessories. The Holts even created mannequins to display the shop’s latest articles of clothing.

“I used to be a window dresser, so I’ve always loved doing this sort of thing,” Susie Holt said. “Mark was a goldsmith for 20 years, so he’s really artsy too. The two of us work together pretty amazingly.”